When he arrived at Polychrome, Bob was warned by Joe Piot to watch out for a trouble maker (me). It did not occur to me until recently that the unceremonious dismissal of his predecessor Dr. K may have been the result of my action. Dr. K apparently had a good credential but was totally new to graphic arts field and his form over substance approach was uniformly disliked by all R&D personnel. We accepted him as a new-commer-to-be-trained-to-become-a-great-leader. Unfortunately he continued to alienate his staff and when he confided with me that he was contemplating letting Gene Golda (who as the longest serving R&D chemist making significant contribution) go, I became furious and told then the head of DIC America Mr. Iwata, a close confidant of Mr. Kawamura, president of DIC, that what was going on. I completely forgot the incident but soon after that at the following DRUPA, when Mr. Kawamura came to visit Polychrome he must have told Joe Piot about the unrest in R&D. Since Joe always followed Mr. Kawamura's wish, his action was very quick and decisive. Right after a big party at the DRUPA on a boat-hotel, Dr. K packed and returned US never to be seen. I remember all the R&D personnel present including Gene was delighted to witness this development.
Thus when Bob came as the new head of R&D, he as well as all of the R&D members must have had a trepidation but there was no worry. He immediately charmed us all, especially me, with his intimate knowledge of industry from his long involvement in graphic arts business through providing a plastic letterpress plate , his contribution in the new imaging technologies as a member of the famous ECD lab, his approach to industry through his involvement in a consulting firm and especially with his friendly and open management style.
He is the longest serving and most effective R&D Director in Polychrome history. Mr. I. Mellan, Dr. Delos Bown, Dr. H. Linford, Dr. L. Katz and Dr. K all served a few years and although they made a significant contributions to the progress of Polychrome (except Dr. K!), none equal impact made by Bob.
He had an interesting management style then new to Polychrome; instead of directing details of technology on daily basis he focused his attention onto the industry development and future of technology. He sought out and was asked to meet heads of big customers to deliver his view for the future technology. This was his way of sensing what direction the customers are interested in and on many occasions he promised that Polychrome would fulfill their needs. We at the lab leaned his promise and made great effort not to disappoint him or the customers. This was how we leaned that the marketing was very important to the R&D activity. He often encouraged us saying that "the marketing is too important to be left to the marketing department alone, we at R&D must become an advanced marketing department."
Above all, he was a great leader the skill of which he must have learned from his experience as the owner of a small company he created some years ago always showing Mr. Halpern like charm without frightening people he met and always impressing listeners with his in-depth knowledge and sound reasoning for his conclusion.
His popularity went further than R&D; he was well liked and respected at the same time among the industry leaders and the leaders of our parent companies. It was natural Bob was selected as our eighth and the last (unknown to everyone at that time) president of Polychrome when Thomas Bittner left for Paris. But his tenure was short lived only because the joint venture he negotiated with Kodak to create a 50/50 joint venture. Kodak Polychrome Graphics started in 1998 as the biggest plate-film company in the world ending 63 years of Polychrome history. After retiring from Kodak Polychrome Graphics and Presstek where he served as the president trying to save an ailing company, he moved to Las Vegas and then now to Florida enjoying his daily basketball practice.
